SPECIAL INVESTIGATION OF COPPER RIVER SALMON FISHERY. 



By Henry B. Ward. 

 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF REGION. 



The Copper River, which empties into the Gulf of Alaska at ap- 

 proximately the highest point of the crescent of shore that forms the 

 northern boundary of the gulf, has long been known as one of the 

 im])ortant salmon streams of Alaska. The records of its yield are 

 found in the publications and other documents of the Bureau of 

 Fisheries and need not be recounted here. The value of the fisheries 

 on the flats at its mouth and in its course has led to active compe- 

 tition for the fishing rights of the district and to the multiplication 

 of canneries, as well as boats and gear engaged in catching the salmon 

 that visit it annually. 



The effect of the steady and increasing draft upon its fish supply 

 resulted in protests that culminated in hearings held by the Bureau 

 of Fisheries in 1917 and in 1918 with a view to determining the ne- 

 cessity of limiting or prohibiting commercial fishing for salmon in 

 the river itself, with its tributary streams, and in its delta waters. 



The evidence presented at these hearings was in part contradictory 

 and indicated an unfortunate lack of precise knowledge with reference 

 to the conditions that prevailed. There was especial lack of infor- 

 mation with reference to the location and extent of the spawning 

 grounds to which the salmon resorted on their ascent of the river, 

 and it was decided to extend the knowledge of the situation by 

 making a study of the stream and its main tributaries, with a view 

 to determining precisely where the fish went and what conditions 

 they found for spawning. It was with this purpose in view that the 

 party spent six weeks in the Copper Eiver Valley and its vicinity, 

 gathering information by inquiry from those well acquainted with 

 the region, but especially by a study at first hand of the river and its 

 tributaries, so far as the time sufficed for this purpose. A brief 

 statement regardmg the temtory itself will serve to give proper 

 orientation for the account of the work which follows. 



The Copper River has its source in a large glacier on the northern 

 slope of Mount Wrangell, and after flowing a short distance northward 

 tln-ough a narrow valley comes out into the broad gravel-floored area 

 known as the Copper River Basin, which stretches from the northern 

 slope of the Chugach Mountains to the foothills of the Alaska Range. 

 In this plain the river turns gradually in a huge circle around Mount 

 Wrangell as a center, and about 50 miles from it, until it reaches a 

 point almost directly south of the mountain and 40 miles from it. 

 Here it is met by the Chitina River, flowing in from the eastward. In 

 the course of its circle around Mount Wrangell the Copper River re- 

 ceives a number of important tributaries — the Chistochina, the Ga- 

 kona, and the Gulkana Rivers from the north, and the Tonsina, 

 Tazlina, and Klutina Rivers from the west. 



From the point of its union with the Chitina, the Copper River 

 flows almost directly south through a narrow valley, at one point 

 constricted into a real box canyon, but nowhere possessed of a wide 



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